Clash looms as European judges say prisoners must have right to vote

David Davis: “This regrettable decision is an infringement of the UK Parliament’s right"Steve Parsons/PA

Prisoners must be given the right to vote, European human rights judges have ruled in a move that threatens a fresh conflict with MPs.

The European Court of Human Rights gave ministers six months to comply with the ruling or face a series of challenges and big legal costs.

But the judges said that the Government could decide which convicted prisoners should be given the right to vote so that ministers could exclude the most serious offenders from being enfranchised.

They warned the Government against any attempt to do as little as possible in implementing the ruling by saying that the trend was towards fewer restrictions on convicted prisoners’ voting rights. Judges could be given the discretion to decide which offenders are allowed to vote,…